So there I was, helping a customer track down some back issues, when suddenly he asks me, “So…this is kind of a strange one, but do you have any…Mighty Mites?”

“Do I?” sez I, and I direct the gentleman not to our miscellaneous M section, not to our “black and white indies of the 1980s” section, but, by God, to our honest-to-goodness for real “Mighty Mites” section.

As I was going through these with the customer, I opened up one issue to check on its publication date for him…this issue, Mighty Mites Vol. 2 #2 (September 1987) in fact:

And what do I happen to find within?

A SWAMP THING PARODY I DID NOT PREVIOUSLY KNOW ABOUT:

“Sump Thing” shows up as an antagonist for the Mighty Mites, and along the way there are brief cameos from other stars of the 1980s black and white indie boon…like the Miami Mice, Boris the Bear, Cerebus, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and so on. However, there is an extended guest-appearance by another star of the ’80s scene, who pops in to save the day:

Yup, that’s Mr. Monster, drawn (and presumably dialoged) by Mike Gilbert, and lettered by regular Mr. Monster letterer Ken Bruzenak (and appear courtesy Eclipse Comics…thanks pals!) So that makes appearances of two characters (or parodies of characters) of interest to me that I had not known about for over 20 years. Well, better late than never, I suppose.

Coincidentally enough, the customer bought pretty much every issue except that particular one with the Swamp Thing parody. I swear I didn’t plead with him to not buy it.

Of extra interest to Swamp Thing fans is the included riff on the “battle” Swamp Thing and his allies had with…well, the giant Embodiment of Evil from issue #50. Like Swampy and pals in that issue, the Mites find themselves trapped within Sump Thing’s body, attempting to explain to the creature what its purpose is. Sort of a moot point, since (SPOILER) Sump Thing gets totally smoked by Mr. Monster’s big guns.